Imagine my surprise, and the excitement, when I heard that a local weekly newspaper was going to do a column on your humble traveler.

Then, before I could see the writing, I began to receive comments ... and e-mail ... and I was sadly at the South Sound Technology conference yesterday morning, so I couldn't read the column, and I began to get worried.

Accusations have been flying while I have been working in various offices our touring the city. People who have spoken with me have been confronted with questions that they, quite frankly, cannot answer.

I leave it to you, dear readers, to examine the column in question here.

29 November, 2007

I helped to paginate and create the flow of the glossy magazine-style guidebook.

There are great photos and highlights of places to go and events to attend in 2008 ... including the Tall Ships festival.

I asked if she might include a bit about me, in jest of course, but her response was non-committal ... so I'll have to wait and see if she calls the photographer from this internship to get any photos.

And that wrapped up the visit! Well, except that Anne Marie gave me some rock candy. Oh it was delicious!, it made my tongue and lips blue, but I can manage that.

Only now do I realize that the candy is shaped like the pillars on the pedestrian bridge that goes across Interstate 705.

I hope one of the ancient giants of Europe doesn't come to visit Tacoma and mistake one of those for candy.

I found their administrative office on the 5th floor of 1119 Pacific Avenue.

The building's lobby was old styled and had pictures of it being constructed.

My first task, as the new intern for the Tacoma Regional Convention and Visitor's Bureau, as to help choose posters for the office I encountered yesterday. There are so many activities going on this winter, I knew very little of them. But, Anne Marie was helpful in choosing the correct one to promote down there.

I then was asked to stand by was Carly took a call. Wouldn't you know, it was from Norway, so I got busy putting together a packet of Tacoma information for my countryman (or woman) who called.

It was tough choosing, so I selected a few brochures (the Museum of Glass, Point Defiance Zoo and aquarium), a card from the office and the most recent visitor and convention bureau magazine.

The office was very friendly. Unlike Premier, there was no office gnome, but I enjoyed chatting about Tacoma and hearing about their office.

21 November, 2007

TG: Mr. Freitas, thank you for opening up your space for an interview today. I notice you're tall, how did that happen?

KF: My mother told me I could be anything I want so I decided not to be short.

TG: Amazing. You're a great Tacoma booster. What brought you to Tacoma?

KF: College at first. I went to PLU then got hooked once my wife and I rented in the North Slope area. We bought a house a couple years later and now both live and work at the same places here in Tacoma.

TG: There it is again, PLU. I should hop out there to check it out. You're the proprietor of FeedTacoma. What is the purpose behind FeedTacoma?

KF: FeedTacoma brings together all the great passionate Tacoma blog voices in one place. I built it first because I'm lazy and didn't want to browse a bunch of different sites and second because I wanted to create a powerful local resource that relies on no single person. With over 30 blog contributors it's easy for a constant stream of content to flow to the readers without any individual having to do all the work themself.

TG: I'm sorry I missed that. I hear their breakfast sandwiches are amazing! But, FeedTacoma, there's no food at ... all? So what is the "Feed" about?

KF: The "Feed" in FeedTacoma initially stood for the RSS feed technology that works to pull content together for the blogs. It moreso points to the desire to feed Tacoman's info about everything from blogs and events to discussions, local photos and video, and even political satire via the Tacomic.

TG: Wonderful! I've also seen you at the opening of the new Narrows Bridge. You were working on getting lights or something?

KF: Yup. I'm part of the NarrowsBridgeLights.org group trying to light the bridges using solar power and super effecient LED lighting.

TG: The bridge is quite the engineering feat, we once built a bridge across a creek in my home community. Lights were incredibly important. My neighbor trained 75 fireflies to sit on the suspension strings to light it up. It was amazing, and brought in gnomes from all over Norway to see the sight.

KF: That's great. Did you have any troll -- I mean tolls to help pay for the bridge?

TG: We built the bridge together, as a community. So once a year we gather to do any repairs and have a feast to celebrate our bridge. What else can we expect in the future from Kevin Freitas?

KF: Since I'm a web developer by day I'll keep adding all sorts of great features to FeedTacoma and continue to snap photos of everything I see. I also hope to get back into playing my trumpet and/or sining here in town. My wife and I were both musicians through college and want to exercise that love.

TG: Music is certainly something beautiful to share.KF: After some more practice it will be. I got kinda' rusty not playing for a few years. Fortunately, working my embouchure out with my wife is never a problem. ;)

TG: Any last words?

KF: Thanks for contributing to FeedTacoma yourself! Many best wishes as you get to know our great City. Maybe sometime we can catch a game of foosball at Meconi's.

TG: Sounds like a great idea! Keep up the great work, and we'll see each other in our travels, I'm sure.

I enjoyed the rain and bamboo for an hour, and I realized I needed to keep to my appointment with Mr. Kevin Freitas.

After making sure the coast was clear, I approached the front stoop of the address Mr. Freitas had sent me.

Interestingly enough I met a nice lad on his porch. An unusual creature, it appeared to have straw for limbs and brains, but he was quite nice. When I inquired as to what his name was, he would only say that he was there to scare crows. Quite a strange response, but he said he was hired out to keep the birds away.

With our gnome hats, vibrantly bright red for our surroundings, the birds will typically keep away from the territory.

Mr. Freitas greeted me with a warm smile and a hand wave. I said farewell to the scare crow. and entered his home.

It is a beautifully remodeled and well kept home.

I spent a moment getting acquainted with Lu, the cat of Mr. Freitas. We had a brief conversation, as cats can be a bit self-centered. He enjoys living in the neighborhood, and appreciates being associated with the Freitas clan.

I asked Lu about Kevin's web projects. Lou couldn't keep track of the number of projects or sites that Mr. Freitas has his name attached to, so Lu suggested I sit down with Kevin and talk.

Of course, Mr. Freitas was busy, and we had to wait awhile before we could chat.

19 November, 2007

The family who helped me get to Tacoma is doing a wonderful thing right now.

Elle is making some delicious chocolates and caramels, and selling them in time for the holidays.

I encourage you to take a moment to check out her Sweet Hope chocolates. Fifty percent of each purchase goes to pre-adoptive families to help relieve some of the financial stress that comes with adopting.

I had the chance to taste these delectable delights when she made them in May this year, a few short months before my trip.

Upon entering the office this morning, Lisa Patterson directed me to the front desk. My task was very simple ... Answer the phone and direct visitors to where they need to go.

It is common hospitality. As a Gnome, I'm designed to be courteous, kind, cheerful and obedient.

So it was a piece of kransekake. And like (one of) my favorite holiday dishes it was enjoyable ... well, most of it.

I had a slight problem seeing people coming through the door. Oh, I could hear them down the hall, down the stairs opening the door. But to see them, it was horrible! I asked Lisa if there was another task I could perform.

She graciously obliged and suggested that I create "photo copies".

I grabbed my camera to follow her. She laughed. "No, we use a photo copier for that."

I was quite confused because she wasn't carrying any photos with her.

We arrived at the photo copier apparatus. I figured, by the way it works that only pixies could generate so many photo-copies in such a small space. It certainly wasn't an elf or anything, as they would be quite cramped. Plus, pixies are much more prone to understand the art of copying and the work of words.

I felt really sad for them when Lisa said to photo-copy 100 pages.

But they worked really hard and succeeded in only a few minutes!

Once that was done, Lisa sent me to help organize a desk and assigned me some other work.

I utilized the zebra files. These were helpful in getting things to their proper place. I noticed the gentleman who sits next to my desk secured his education from a place known as Pacific Lutheran University. I took a break from filing to check out the university online. Wow. It seems to be a place where I could learn a bit about Norway. I'll have to visit there, too.

Oh, my, where was I ... Yes. Sorting. After sorting and arranging the desk, I was asked to learn a bit about pmg and what is called 'layout' of a magazine.

05 November, 2007

They have a diverse selection of publications that feature the South Sound. Plus the do marketing for various niches of businesses. They even do work for my favorite day spa.

Upon my arrival, Josh Dunn, the President of pmg, took me into the office. I had the opportunity to look out his window.

He was certain to let me know that they are an open office, and already had a garden gnome working there. Hume, whom I met later at a staff meeting, is a North American Gnome. His branch of our species trekked across Siberia and followed you humans to the Northwest portion of what you call North America. Considerably smaller than us Norwegian Gnomes, North American Gnomes are agile, fast, and just a kick in the pants at celebrations!

I kid him and call him a Gnome's Gnome ... due to his size.

Josh made it clear to me that I was to stick to answering the phone and making photocopies.

I turned around from the view and accepted my first 'city job'.

And, insofar as I know, I am the first Norwegian Gnome to work in an office on St. Helens Avenue in Tacoma.

My first task today was to join a staff meeting.

I can't tell who is who from this photo, it was my first day, after all. But as you can see, each of their diverse publications even bring a smile to their faces. We have a Gnome saying, and Hume even knows this one ... "A good product must have come from a joyful workplace."